Unexpected Love
by kate4114
Summary: Hatsumi and her family are living in NYC when she meets Ryoki, the new principal's son, who has sworn to make her life hell. What he doesn't know is that he's slowly falling for her... Chapter 8 now up!
1. New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters.

Unexpected Love Chapter 1- New Beginnings

Hatsumi ran down the alley next to their apartment building"Akane, stop kissing your boyfriend and come inside. It's almost 10 and you know mom'll get mad if you get in past curfew again. Remember what happened last time? Where are you"

Hatsumi stopped, peering into the shadows; she heard high-pitched giggles and knew without a doubt who it was. She yelled again"Akane I know you're out there. You're only 14; you shouldn't be doing this in the first place."

She sighed and walked back the way she came. Honestly she didn't know why Akane was so popular with boys. Sure, she is prettier and more outgoing, but she's only 14. She worried that if Akane wasn't careful, something unplanned might happen, like a pregnancy -not that it wasn't uncommon for a teen as young as her to have a baby in NYC, just that Hatsumi wanted to much more than that for her little sister.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the pitter-patter of Akane's steps as she ran to catch up with her.

"Why'd you have to spoil our good time, Ryan's such a good kisser and-"

"You mean Brian, right?" Hatsumi cut in. "Isn't your boyfriend named Brian?"

"Well one of them is..." Akane tried to explain.

"Wait, you mean you're going out with two boys at once?"

"No, not two. No."

"So then who is Ryan?"

"My boyfriend."

"And who is Brian?"

"Also my boyfriend, then there's Steve and..."

"No, no, don't tell me, I don't want to know. I still don't approve of you having a boyfriend, never the less more than one." Hatsumi sighed. "It was always so hard for me to even get a boyfriend. I don't know how you do it."

"Well, you'd have a boyfriend if you would just make yourself available to them. What happened to that guy you were telling me about?"

"Azusa."

Azusa Odagiri...the person Hatsumi had had a crush on for years...the one who didn't even know she existed. If only she had Akane's looks and personality, she could attract him like bees to honey. 'But there's no way of separating him from his "fan club"' she thought to herself. Ever since he had been "discovered" by that modeling agency he had been the most popular kid in school. 'I still can't help but think about him, that time in the hall when he helped me after some girls tried to jump me. He actually looked at me: the invisible.'

Hatsumi and Akane arrived at the apartment to find their older brother, Shinogu, lounged out on the couch, channel surfing.

"You're lucky, you've got 30 seconds left," he said over his shoulder. Akane let out the breath she had been holding.

Hatsumi walked over to her brother and sat down on the floor in front of him, crossing her legs. "I didn't know you were home, when did you get back?"

"About 5 minutes ago," he replied, switching off the TV. "How come there's never anything good on television anymore? It's all reality shows and courtroom battles."

"I never watch TV anymore; I'm trying to get my summer reading done for school. I go back in a week remember"

He laughed, "I remember. What book is it this year?"

She makes a look of disgust. "I don't know, some book called "The Things They Carried". It's about the Vietnam War. Certainly not my taste."

"No, you never were into historical fiction."

"So how was your first day of classes?"

"Long, I'm trying to finish up all of my prerequisites so I can focus on my Law major."

"And how was work?"

"Also long, and boring, but I need the money. At least they gave me tuition free at NYU. I couldn't afford to go there otherwise."

Hatsumi sighed; Shinogu always was the genius of the family. She was surprised she even saw him today. Usually between classes and work and friends he wouldn't even come home at night. In addition to his part time job, he also tutored kids in various subjects. Because of all this, any time he was home was a luxury.

"Well, I should really get to bed, I want to get in some reading time," Hatsumi said with a yawn, getting up and stretching like a cat. "You really should too, you've got an early class and I wouldn't want you to be late."

"I will in a minute, I just want to see the news."

"Okay, but don't stay up too late," she chided.

"Yes, mother," he mocked, as she walked down the hall to her room.

* * *

"Hatsumi, have you seen my white thigh-highs anywhere?" Akane asked, running around the apartment frantically. "I wanted to wear them with my plaid skirt and they're the absolute only thing that matches it. Ah! Here they are." She holds up the stockings. "Gotta look great for the first day of school," she shrugs. "First impressions are the key. And I have even more to worry about; it's my first day at the High School. Hey, what're you wearing?" 

Hatsumi shrugged, "I just figured I'd wear what I usually do."

Akane walked over to the closed and frowned at all the drab clothing. "It would be better if you wore colors instead of your usual browns... How do you ever expect to attract Azusa's attention if this is what you're wearing" Akane picked up a brown wool skirt, holding it by the edge as if to protect herself from Hatsumi's seemingly horrible taste. She grimaces. "I think we should go shopping."

Hatsumi stood up and grabbed the skirt back. "For your information, I was planning on wearing that today," she retorted.

She didn't even thing it mattered what she wore, no boy was going to notice her anyway; she didn't have Akane's looks or Shinogu's intellect. 'What's the point of primping yourself up if no one's going to look at you? I'd rather spend the time doing other things.'

Akane's voice broke through her thoughts"Well, if you want to go to school at all, you need to get dressed, we need to leave in 10 minutes to be on time, and I want to be there early to see my friends. You better not make me late."

* * *

The bell for homeroom rang, 30 students filed into room D306. "Good morning students," the woman on the Public Announcement System droned, "and welcome to you're first day of the year at PS118. I'm sure this'll be a good year. As you've probably noticed, we have put metal detectors at all of the entrances and exits to prevent any mishaps. The school administration would like to apologize for the inconvenience but would also like to request your co-operation. 

"In other news, I would like to formally introduce our new principal. As most of you may know, our principal of many years, Mr. Isaac, retired last year. He will be missed. Our new principal is Mrs. Tachibana. She comes highly recommended to the school and also brings a new student with her, her son, Ryoki. I expect a warm welcome for them both into our midst and hope you all enjoy the rest of you day."

Hatsumi groaned. She hated morning announcements, and today was the beginning of a long stream of them, 183 days left to go.

"Hey, have you heard about the principal's son? They say he's a genius or something, he got accepted to college early, but his mom wanted him to go here," the girl next to her said. "I hear he's really cute too, maybe he's single?"

Hatsumi starred at her, and the girl finally turned around and started a conversation with another girl near to her. She really wasn't interested in talking to someone about gossip. It was the one thing that Hatsumi avoided like the plague, gossip always ended up hurting someone, and she stayed out of it.

"Okay class" the teacher at the front of the room said, "I'm going to take attendance, so pardon the miss-pronouncing of names, I'll get them all eventually."

"Kevin Aaron."

"Here."

"Susan Bates."

"Here."

Hatsumi tuned it out, it wasn't that important. She had been in the same homeroom for 3 years now, with the same people and the same teacher. This one, for some reason, was a substitute, though.

"Hatsumi Narita."

Her name jerked her back to reality. "Here," she called.

"Okay," the teacher addressed the class, "anyone I didn't call?"

"You didn't call me" someone said from the back of the class.

"What's your name, then? Are you on my list?" the teacher asked.

"I'm Ryoki, Ryoki Tachibana."


	2. Disaster

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing the characters...

Unexpected Love Chapter 2- Disaster

"I'm Ryoki, Ryoki Tachibana."

All of a sudden, everyone around the room started whispering to each other. 'So this is the guy everyone's been talking about, huh? Well I guess he is cute, although I'm not sure I go for the nerdy types, but in a way...'

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Tachibana—."

"No, call me Ryoki, all my friends do," he said with a sly smile, pushing his glasses up his nose and glancing around the room.

"Well, um, Mr—um—Ryoki, it's a pleasure to have you in our homeroom. Why don't you take a couple minutes and introduce yourself to your classmates?"

"Um, sure, Mrs...what's your name?"

"Miss Stanley, I'm substituting for your regular teacher, Miss Comstock."

"Okay, well, as you know, my name's Ryoki. My mom's the new principal here. We moved here from Tokyo, but my English is really good. While I was in Tokyo, I went to Kaisei Academy, an elite all-boys school. I would have gone straight to NYU, since I have been accepted 2 years early, but my mother wanted me to stay and finish school here."

"How interesting, well, you certainly are an instant celebrity, I'm sure you'll have no problems making friends."

"Thank you I—." The bell rang.

"Okay kids," Miss Stanley yelled over the din, I'll see you all tomorrow, have a nice day!"

* * *

"Can you believe how cute he is?" Akane said to her friend Lisa at the lunch table. "Ryoki is just adorable; I bet he's a great kisser."

"I know, and did you see all the girls fawning over him?" Lisa asked back. "I wonder which one is going to be the lucky girl."

"Who says there has to be just one? Well I certainly hope he notices me, I wouldn't mind going out with him at all," Akane said, fishing through her lunchbox. "Yuck, PBJ again! I thought I told my mom not to make me this anymore. Plus, it's not cool to bring lunches to school, that's elementary school stuff."

"Well, anyway, I bet you won't be able to get anywhere near Ryoki for the rest of the week, there'll be a circle around him 5 girls deep. Good luck catching his attention," Lisa said, taking a bite out of her apple.

"Oh, I will, mark my words. I always get what I want."

* * *

Hatsumi walked over to the tree where she had eaten lunch every single day for the past two years.

"Hey Hatsumi!" her friend Subaru Yagi yelled, ruffling his unruly hair. "Can you believe all this stuff about that new kid Tachibana? The whole school's a-flutter about him."

"Hey, Subaru," she said, walking over and letting her back pack drop with a thud. "Yeah, I can believe it, he's in my homeroom. I don't know, he seems kind of cocky to me."

"Well, any self-respecting genius would be. The guy's insane. I saw him down in the comp. lab with the teachers in there. Turns out there was this huge virus circling the computers and he nullified it in 5 minutes flat. He's amazing," Subaru said.

"Anyway, changing the subject, what classes do you have today?"

"Let's see, Mrs. Smith for English, Sñ. Jones for Spanish, and Mrs. Fritz for Bio. Ugh, I hate that class..."

"My sympathies, I had her last year."

"What classes did you have?" Subaru asked with a mouthful of sandwich.

"Gross, do you have to talk while you're eating?" Hatsumi said with a tone of disgust.

"Mmm grmm uumms."

"Whatever. I had Mrs. Huges for Chem., a free period, and then French with some weird guy with really bad breath. I can't pronounce his name for my life."

"Mmm gmm," he swallowed. "Mr. Alcantara?"

"Yeah that's it."

"What else is new with you?"

"Not much, I just remembered something I have to do. I have to go to the library and print up my friend's fanfic for her, she wanted me to read it!"

"Okay, have fun, I'll see you back at school. We have math together, right?"

"Right, talk to you later," Hatsumi said as she grabbed her bag and walked back to the school building. 'Well,' she thought, 'the day's almost half over, and then I can go home. I always felt so crowded here.'

* * *

The last bell of the day rang. 'Finally,' Hatsumi thought, 'I'm free!' She ran out of her last class and down the hall to her locker just as people were filling out of their respective classes.

"Hatsumi," Akane appeared next to her, followed by her friends. "I'm going to stay after school today and hang out; I want to catch up with everything everyone's been doing."

"Okay then," she said, putting books into her backpack. "I'll let mom know where you are and see you at home."

"Thanks a bunch. Oh yeah, isn't Daddy coming home today?"

"I think so; I'll let him know where you are, too. Okay?"

Suddenly Hatsumi got bumped from behind. "Hey, watch were you're standing!" yelled a kid behind her.

"You know, you should have really told that guy off, you've gotta be more assertive with people," Akane said. "Well, I'm going, I'll see you when I get home."

"See you later."

Hatsumi finished putting her books in her locker and headed downstairs to the library; there was a book there she wanted to check out. On the way she stopped in the guidance office and checked the college visits list, she didn't want to miss when Cornell came!

On the desk in front of her were some typed pages. It looks like someone's study pages, she thought, flipping through it. Wait a minute, these aren't study page, these are the answers to Mr. Warren's next economics test! But where did they find them? How did they get them? Hatsumi debated leaving them there, just letting someone else find them, but it was her civil duty to take these into the office and report them to the principal. 'What if Mrs. Tachibana thinks that I'm the one who stole them?' she thought, suddenly changing her mind. 'No, no, she'll just have to believe that it wasn't my fau—'

"What have you got there?" someone behind her said.

Hatsumi spun around. 'Uh oh,' she thought.

Author's note Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my stuff, I'm still in the making with this whole thing. I've been trying to get to get a category for Hot Gimmick but they still haven't. Anyway, I still have to read #4 so I don't know quite how far I'm going to take things, but I'll soon let you know. I should have chapter 3 up in about a week!


	3. Slave

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters...

Unexpected Love Chapter 3- Slave

'Uh oh,' she thought.

Ryoki Tachibana was standing right in front of her. 'Oh no, talk about the worst possible person I could run into between here and the office!' she thought.

"What have you got there?" he repeated, grabbing the stack from out of her hands and ruffling through it. "Your name's Hatsumi, right? I never figured you to be one to steal test answers..."

"Wha—? I—I didn't—," she stuttered. 'Help me, please, I don't know what to say!'

"Well, it's rather obvious, you have the trust of the teachers, being the quiet, 'do good' type and you somehow got a hold of answers and were planning to sell them." Ryoki clicked his tongue in a disapproving way as he continued to flip through the pages. "I guess there's only one thing to do. My mother would be rather interested to find out just how you got your hands on these, and I'm sure Mr. Warren would, too."

Hatsumi froze. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. 'I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time, so it seems.' "I—I—Please listen to me, I—I just found these lying here. I was going to take them to Mrs. Tachibana as you came up to me. I would never—I wouldn't ever do something like that, I don't even have Mr. Warren as a teacher," she stuttered, trying to gather her wits.

"Even better for you, then, who would suspect you to be the one supplying answers, someone who doesn't even need them?" He chuckled to himself as if enjoying this game.

'He holds my suspension on the line and he's enjoying it. That ass.' Hatsumi searched for a probable answer, but none came. "You've got to believe me, I didn't have anything to do with it. Honest."

"Well, I'm going to have to take these down to my mother. She doesn't take very kindly to cheaters, and who do you think she's going to believe: me, her one and only son, or you, someone she doesn't even know?" he laughed.

Hatsumi wanted to cry. 'All of my work, just to be framed for something I didn't do. How in the name of all that's good can I get myself out of this?'

"There is, however, some way that I personally can help you," he continued, immediately getting Hatsumi's attention back. "I'm in need of tutoring, shall we say, and I've been looking for the perfect person to help me. Shall we call it a 'quid pro quo' situation?"

'An out, thank you!' "What do you need? I'll do anything, anything, just don't take that down to your mother," Hatsumi cried.

"Well, as I said, I'm in need of a tutor, but actually what I meant was I need a slave."

"What? A slave—?" Hatsumi asked, confused.

"Yes, if you agree, you will be my slave. You will do anything I want, whenever I want, without question," he said with a weird look on his face. "Or, if you would rather, I can just take these"—gesturing to the papers—"and you, down to the main office to see my mother. It's your choice."

Hatsumi was flabbergasted. 'On the one hand, I think he's a pompous ass for even suggesting that I be his slave, but on the other, it'll be better than being suspended, or worse, expelled. I know that the school has upped its policies on cheating and plagiarism. I don't want to be caught in the middle of that.' Hatsumi shook herself. 'What am I even thinking? Of course I'll do it. Being expelled isn't even an option.' She sighed.

"Your time to decide is running out, Hatsumi. I'm not normally so nice to cheaters. If you don't decide now, you won't have a choice of deciding...but if you'd rather, as I said, be suspended or worse..." Ryoki continued, breaking into her thoughts.

"I guess, well, I'll be your slave," she said, bowing her head in shame.

"You'll what? I didn't hear you."

"I'll be your slave," she said again, louder.

"Good. Then the first thing you can do is carry my bags out to my locker."

"But—."

"No 'buts', and call me 'Master'."

"Yes, Master," Hatsumi said submissively.

Author's Note Okay, I got a little excited with this chapter so it's up a lot earlier than I thought it would be. It's also a little shorter than I thought it would be, but I'll continue more with chapter 4. I've gotten to the point where I can now start expanding on the story line and not so much character development anymore. We'll see what happens in the chapters to come! Keep reading and you'll find out!

Warning: Future chapters may contain rated R materials so the rating may change.


	4. Just Call Me

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters...

Unexpected Love Chapter 4- Just Call Me

"Did you SEE Ryoki? Isn't he hot?" Akane exclaimed as soon as she was with her friends. "He's almost edible!"

"Yeah, I know, wait, I think I just saw him, didn't he go in the guidance office?" one of her friends asked.

"I think he did, and I don't think there were any girls with him, let's follow him," Akane suggested.

"I don't know, Akane, I think you have too many boyfriends for your own good," her friend stated back.

"Well, I'm going anyway, and you can't stop me," she said back, stalking off.

Her friends followed her, shadowing her every move. They finally caught up to her at Crossroads, the big hall in the middle of the school.

"Wait, I'm going to go see if he's in there," Akane said turning back to her friends. "Come after me in a minute."

Akane walked off and slowly opened the door to the Guidance office. She stuck her head in—and saw Ryoki and her sister together. 'I can't believe it, it just figures that as soon as I like someone like Ryoki she would try to steal him away from me. I can't believe it.'

Her friends crept up to her, "Is he in there, Akane? Is he alone?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, he's in there all right, he's definitely in there," she said back, turning away. 'I swear to you Hatsumi, he is not something you're going to have, he's mine, and I'm going to make him mine.'

* * *

Hatsumi ran down the busy streets of New York City to her tiny apartment. 'Oh no, oh God, what have I done? What have I gotten myself into this time?' It still hadn't hit her about the goings-on of the afternoon.

"Hey lady, watch it!" She had inadvertently crashed into someone.

"Sorry!" she called behind her as she continued down the sidewalk.

'Almost home,' she consoled herself. 'Almost home and then all my problems will all go away.'

She ran up the steps of her apartment building, opened the door, and ran inside. Hatsumi sighed in relief. She walked down the hall to her door and opened it.

"Hi sweetie. Glad your home. Have you seen your sister?" her mother asked.

"Hi mom. Yeah, she said she'd be home later. She stayed after school to catch up with her friends," she said, dropping her books and coat at the door. She went and kissed her mother.

"Well, your father should be home around 6:30 from his flight, so dinner probably won't be until late, grab a snack if you would like," her mother said, pushing her towards the kitchen.

"Thanks mom, but I'm alright, I'm not really hungry. I think I'll go to my room and read for a while."

"Okay honey, I'll call you if I need you for anything."

The phone rang. "Hello, Narita residence," Hatsumi's mom said as she juggled the phone and the wooden spoon she was using to stir the pasta for dinner.

"Is Hatsumi there?" the unknown person on the other end said.

"Yes, I believe so, let me get her. She's probably reading. Hang on," she said back. 'That's odd,' she thought. 'Hatsumi hardly ever gets phone calls, I wonder who it is?'

She walked down the hall. "Hatsumi, sweetheart, phone call for you, here's the phone." She stopped at her door and knocked, "Hatsumi? Are you in there?" She heard muffled sounds inside the room. "Okay, well, I'm going to leave it outside the door, honey."

Hatsumi crept to the door and opened it slowly, watching her mother retreat back to the kitchen. She bent down slowly and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said with a slightly shaky voice.

"Don't do that again," said the voice on the other line.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Hatsumi asked, now confused.

"Don't ever keep me waiting again. Slaves are obedient to their masters, and this master has very little tolerance or patience."

Hatsumi shook. "Ryoki-how did you get my phone number? I just thought this was going to be a school thing, not anything else..."

"And don't ask questions, slaves never question their masters," Ryoki said, continuing.

"Um, well," she said, searching for words.

"Just come over, I have a need for you."

"But-."

"No, don't ask any more questions, make it okay with your mom or whoever you report to and come over. I live two blocks down from you in the new apartment complex, you know, the condos. I'm on the top floor. Be here in 15 minutes, I'll be expecting you," he said, slamming the phone down.

Hatsumi was speechless. 'The audacity of him,' she thought to herself. 'How dare he?' She stood up, the phone still in her hand and stared at the wall until the operator came back on the line, "We're sorry..."

Finally she came back to reality, and realized that she only had another 5 minutes to get there. 'Who knows what he'll do to me, or what he's capable of, his mom's the principal, after all.'

She ran outside her room, grabbed her coat, yelled something to her mom about being back in 20 minutes, ran down the busy street, and right into her sister as she was coming home.

"Well, I expected you to be excited to see me, but not that excited," Akane said, chuckling over her sister's folly. "Where are you going anyway? Dinner's going to be served soon, I'm sure, and Daddy'll be home anytime. Don't you want to see him?"

"Well, I, um, I, well, you see, Ryoki—," Hatsumi stuttered.

"You're going over to Ryoki's aren't you? I know he lives in that big new complex. I just wanted to let you know, he's mine, I want him, and I'm going to have him. Just stay away," she said threateningly.

"Well, I, uh, I—I have to go!" she said.

Hatsumi turned and started running down the sidewalk again, this time making sure she didn't run into anyone, and finally ended up in front of the menacing building.

"You were late," someone said behind her. "What did I tell you about being late? I'll be nice this time, since you're new to being a slave, but don't let it happen again. Third offences are never excused."

"I'm sorry Ryoki-chan, it will never happen again," Hatsumi said, bowing to him.

"See that it doesn't. Come with me," he said, grabbing her arm and hauling her bodily up the stairs of the complex. "My mom's not home yet and there's only a little bit of time before she does."

"Wha—."

"DON'T ASK QUESTIONS. Last warning. You don't want to see me mad, trust me."

"Okay, ok, sorry."

"Good, now, here we are."

Hatsumi looked around. She had been so bent on making sure Ryoki didn't accidentally dislocate her shoulder that she hadn't realized they had stopped in front of a door.

"Come on, we haven't got all day," he said, pushing her inside. She careened into a plush leather couch and fell over the top. She got her bearings back and then straightened up, turned, and faced him.

"It—it's not very—not very nice to do that, you—you know," she said, trying not to meet his eyes. 'God, what have I gotten myself into?' she thought.

"Okay then, the bedroom's over there," he said, gesturing.

Hatsumi looked over her shoulder and back, finally understanding that he wanted her to go in there. She looked back, the unasked question on her face. 'Why does he want me to go in there? I really don't like this...'

"Come on," he said, giving her a shove from behind.

Hatsumi's feet moved without her willing them to. 'Remember, you're just doing this so he can't frame you and get you kicked out of school,' she reminded herself.

Ryoki entered behind her and shut the door. He walked around her and sat on his giant king-sized bed. "So, Hatsumi, how do you like my room?" he said, gesturing to the walls.

Hatsumi dared a look around. The room was pretty much devoid of anything personal; there were no posters, no shelves, the walls were just blue and undecorated. The only other pieces of furniture he had were a desk, a bureau, a nightstand, and a wardrobe. Going by the size of the room, she was surprised there wasn't a walk-in closet attached to the room as well.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Ryoki said when she didn't respond. "I have it just the way I like it. I only really sleep in here."

"Oh," she said, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I'm not going to wait all day...strip already."

Hatsumi was completely taken aback. 'STRIP? He wants me to STRIP? Is that all I am to him, just someone to have some sex with? There are hundreds of girls at school who would be perfectly happy to grant his wish, but yet he chooses an unwilling participant?' Hatsumi thought, outraged. Inwardly, she was a tornado, outwardly, she was scared. She started to shiver uncontrollably.

Ryoki, seeing she was visibly agitated, got up and went over to her. "Well, if you aren't going to take them off, I will," he commented, placing his hands on the hem of her shirt and starting to lift.

"No, wait!" Hatsumi cried, stopping the upward trend of his hands. 'Doesn't he understand that it's not supposed to happen like this? You're supposed to love someone. LOVE! Not this...it's not supposed to happen like this,' she thought, the tornado raging inside her.

"What?" he asked, thoroughly annoyed.

"It's my—it's my first—first time. I—I didn't want—I—please don't—," she stuttered, so shaken she wasn't able to make a coherent sentence.

"No? This isn't what you want?" he asked back, obviously puzzled.

"You can't—you can't just make someone into your slave and expect that to be okay...I've never even kissed someone before," she said, tears coming to her eyes. She broke his grasp on her and turned away. "Plus, I don't love you," she said to herself. "And I'll never forgive you if you do this to me."

Ryoki didn't know what to do. His master plan had totally backfired. He approached her from behind and put his hand on her shoulder. She cringed.

"Since you're new to this whole slave thing, I'll be easy on you."

Hatsumi turned, hope on her face.

"I'll only require of you one kiss, then you may leave, but only if I'm satisfied with the kiss. Understand?" he continued.

Hatsumi turned and nodded, finally meeting his eyes. He stepped forward and she stood on her toes, trying to reach his height. He bent down a little to accommodate her. She stretched up and planted her lips on his for a brief moment, then turned to leave. Ryoki reached out and grabbed her arm before she could reach the door.

"I said you could leave only if you satisfied me, remember? That, may I just say, was not a kiss. This is."

Ryoki grabbed her into his arms and kissed her completely, held her, tasted her. 'It means nothing to me, she means nothing to me. I'm doing this for practice,' he reminded himself.

The kiss was melting, and Hatsumi soon found herself completely taken over by it. 'So this is what they talk about in the poetry and songs, it's not so bad. Wait, what am I saying, I've just been kissed by Ryoki...the guy who almost raped me!' She struggled against him, letting the moment pass. Finally she escaped from his hold. She ran to the door, looked back at his stunned figure, opened the door and out of the apartment, down the stairs and out onto the street, losing herself in the crowd.

Ryoki didn't move, he couldn't understand what was happening to him. 'It was just a kiss,' he reminded himself again. 'She doesn't mean anything to me. Just some girl to practice on so I don't embarrass myself when the time comes for it to really count.' He walked over to the bed and sat down hard. 'Why am I shaking? This never happens to me, maybe I need something to eat...No, that's not it.' He fell back and laid on the bed. 'What's that noise?' Thump thump, thump thump. 'My heartbeat?' Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump.

**Author's Note**- I have to say that I had fun writing this chapter, I hope you all have fun reading it. More to come soon. Thanks for everyone who reviewed me, I appreciate it greatly. I'm totally up for ideas if anyone has some thoughts on where the hell I should take this. Thanks again!


	5. Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters.

Unexpected Love Chapter 5- Escape

Hatsumi ran down the crowded street, heedless of where she was going or who she might have bumped into upon passing, all she cared about was getting away—far away: somewhere she could think uninterrupted and unmolested. She knew just the place, a private garden nobody went in. There was a gazebo there and she had spent many hours there as a child when the apartment got too unbearable. She adjusted her course and, having gained back some of her rational thought, slowed her pace, attempting to calm herself. She reached her target, the gate to the garden, and climbed it easily, the places to put her feet worn from the years of use.

Hatsumi dropped down onto the soft grass beyond the gate and stroke purposefully toward her destination. Glancing around on her way, she realized some drastic changes had been made since her last visit. 'Someone must have moved into the mansion that goes with the property,' she thought, 'which means I'm going to have to find another hiding place.' She looked around once more before sitting down in the gazebo. 'I sure am going to miss this place,' she thought dejectedly. 'Maybe I can continue to come here until I'm discovered.' She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on her knees. She wondered how things could have gotten so bad. 'Just another case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,' she thought wryly. She sighed. 'And the worst part is that there's nothing I can do about it.'

Hatsumi sat for a while just breathing in the cool air as dusk fell. 'I bet everyone's wondering where I am. Dad's probably home by now and will have started an argument with mom saying she doesn't keep a good enough eye on her children. Akane's probably in the living room trying to drown out the noise with the TV, while Hikaru is shut in his room on his bed with a pillow over his head. Shinogu will have left hours ago. I wonder if they'd even notice if I slept here tonight. I've done it before.' She thought, changing positions and lying down on her side, extending out her legs.

Slowly she drifted to sleep and did not dream, but awoke again when the night air became cold. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs again. 'I should go back. I don't even know what time it is.' While she had slept, full darkness had fallen. Hatsumi heard rustling leaves behind her and turned, startled.

"Hatsumi?" a familiar voice said. "Hatsumi is that you?" Suddenly a figure emerged from the trees. Shinogu.

"Oh, Shinogu, I'm so glad to see you," Hatsumi said, uncurling herself and getting up to meet him. She hugged him and then guided him to a seat.

Shinogu arranged himself then cut right to the chase. "Where did you go? You certainly didn't just come here; you only come here when you're upset. What happened? The whole family was worried. Even Hikaru asked about you."

Hatsumi leaned into her brother, putting her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. "Remember when we were little, how I used to come here when things got too tough to handle?" she asked, avoiding the question.

"But," Shinogu started.

"I guess I just needed to escape from reality. I needed to get out and away," Hatsumi continued, interrupting.

"I worry. Well, we all do," Shinogu replied.

"Why don't we just sit here and enjoy the beautiful garden and each other's good company," she suggested. He sighed and nodded, his movement barely visible in the dark. Shinogu pulled her close lost in the memories and the moment.

* * *

Beep, beep, beep, beep...

Hatsumi yawned and stretched in her bed, acknowledging her alarm clock and then promptly hitting the snooze button. She didn't really remember getting here last night; something about her brother carrying her home and putting her here. She was still in the clothes she wore last night.

Hatsumi burrowed back under the covers, savoring the nine minutes that the snooze button would give her before she really needed to get up and shower. She drifted, but was then rudely re-awakened by the alarm clock: beep, beep, beep, beep...

"Alright, alright. I'm up!" she said aloud, flinging back her covers and daring to touch the cold hard wood floor below her feet. She shivered. 'When did it get to be so cold at night?' she wondered to herself.

There was a knock at her door. "Hatsumi? You in there? Where were you last night?" That would be Akane.

"Yes, I'm fine, Shinogu brought me home," she said, getting up and walking to her wardrobe.

"Well, we were worried, but I'm glad that big brother was able to find you. None of us knew where you had gone," Akane said, still through the door, a touch of worry evident in her voice.

"Yes, yes, I swear to you, I'm fine, now, may I please have some privacy?"

"Okay, but just so you know, I'm using the shower!" Akane stated, gleefully, scampering down the hall.

Hatsumi gritted her teeth. 'Well, I guess that's the house rule: whoever wakes up first gets first dibs on the shower,' she thought. 'That's what happens when you grow up with two girls and two boys. That way there's no fighting.'

She turned back to the closet and studied her clothes. Brown skirt, brown pants, khaki skirt, khaki pants, jean skirt, jeans... All of her stuff was out of style and out of date. 'At least I'm not like most girls and walking around with their butts hanging out of their pants, and not even wearing underwear,' she thought, trying to boost her self-esteem. 'I guess clothing was never really that important, what's on the inside is..."

She selected a pair of Khaki Capri's and a cute t-shirt she got on her one family trip to Cancún. They had saved for almost 2 years to be able to afford it, and had stayed for a week.

She exited the room, walked into the bathroom (much to her sister's dismay), used the brush on the sink to try to make sense of the disarray that is the hair on her head, brushed her teeth, grabbed her back pack and breakfast from the kitchen counter, kissed her mother goodbye, and left the apartment building, knowing she'd be at school early.

Hatsumi had started walking when she heard her name being called. She turned and realized it was Ryoki, and he was chasing after her. She turned again and resumed walking down the sidewalk, not wanting to talk to him.

Ryoki caught up to her in a couple of minutes and when he was right behind her, grabbed her shoulders, almost knocking her over backwards.

"Never, ever, do that to me again. Never embarrass me like that, Slave. If I call you, you turn and wait—wait—for me. You're going to be walking me to school every day from now on. I expect you to meet me at my apartment building at 7:15 on the dot so we can be at school at 7:45 when the bell rings. Understand, slave?"

Hatsumi nodded and bowed her head. "I understand."

"Okay then, let's go," he said, turning and striding down the street. Hatsumi hurried to catch up, not able to match his long strides. "Oh, and one more thing, I expect to meet you for lunch, in the courtyard," Ryoki said.

"Okay, I'll be there."

"You'd better, you don't want to make me mad."

They walked together until they got to school, where he left her to go say hello to his first period teacher. Hatsumi was thrilled to finally be on her own, and went to the library to see her friends and explain that she'd not be seeing them in the mornings anymore.

Akane followed her sister, not far behind Ryoki as he chased her down the street. She watched the whole exchange, how he was so familiar with her sister and how didn't seem to mind his presence. She followed them to the school and as soon as Ryoki let Hatsumi alone she pounced.

"What did I tell you about Ryoki?" Akane asked, startling Hatsumi out of her thoughts.

"Oh, hi Akane, sorry I didn't wait for you this morning, I wanted to get in early, but it didn't quite turn out that way, as you can see."

"Oh, I can see alright, I can see that you're totally going against what I said and still hanging out with Ryoki."

"Akane, you have to believe me, it's not like that, it's not like that at all. I don't even like him, he's been following me around lately, that's all, and I can't tell him to go away since he's the Principal's son. I don't know what to do."

"Well, I guess it's okay if you can't get rid of him, there's really no accounting for taste with some people, is there? No offence, Hatsumi, I just don't understand why he'd want to follow you," she said, sensing her distress.

"Okay, well, the bell's about to ring and I have to get to my locker before first period. I'll see you when I get home. Bye Hatsumi!"

"Bye," Hatsumi said, basically to herself, since Akane had taken off running. 'How am I going to deal with this, it keeps getting worse and worse,' she asked herself. The bell rang, and then she was off and running to class.


	6. Twist of Fate

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters.

Unexpected Love Chapter 6- Twist of Fate

"Wow, I can't believe you're actually here. It's been three days, I just figured you were going to abandon me," Subaru said in greeting as he saw Hatsumi's shape materialize in front of him. "I thought you were spending all your time with Ryoki."

"Nice to see you too, Subaru," she said back, dropping down next to him and pulling out her lunch box.

"Really, Hatsumi, I like the guy, but it's like you don't even have friends anymore. We miss you. I miss you."

"Well, I'm sorry, Ryoki chose me as his personal guide for the school, and I have a responsibility towards his well-being here," she said with a defensive tone. "And plus, it's not as if I would actually want to spend my time with him, he's far too much of a jerk for my liking. Half the time I can't even find him through the crowds of females that seem to gather every time he sets foot outside of his classroom."

"So the slave driver didn't want your company today?" Subaru asked. Hatsumi jerked, and then covered up the movement by arranging herself on the lawn. 'How did he? Never mind, he couldn't know, there's no way, but still, that was too close to the truth for my liking,' Hatsumi thought to herself. "You know what, Subaru, there's actually something I have to do right now, sorry, I just remembered. I know you haven't seen much of me today, but I have to run," she said, while gathering her things in her arms. "I'll see you later."

"But Hatsumi!" Subaru said, jumping up to follow her.

"No, really, I wouldn't want to take away your time for lunch, I'll just catch up to you in class later, ok?"

"Yeah, okay," Subaru said as he watched her figure fade into the distance. "I just don't know you these days."

* * *

Hatsumi ran out of the school and down the busy street block. Her eyes were blurred by something. Tears. She didn't realize she had been so affected by what Subaru had said. 'If only you knew what I have been through in the past week, you would be more understanding of my situation. But I can't tell you, can I? You'll never be okay with it.' She continued down the street, not knowing where she was headed, until it suddenly came to her. 'I'm going to the garden, it's the only place I can think things through.' She stopped at a corner at a newsstand and got a bottle of water.

"You okay lady?" the man there asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Hatsumi replied. She took her water and continued down the street, now calm and collected. 'I should really be getting back to school, but I don't want to go back, I don't want to ever go back, not if Ryoki's there.'

Hatsumi arrived at the garden entrance and jumped the gate, landing on her feet. She dropped her backpack on the ground and removed the book she was currently reading: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. One of her friends had convinced her to give the series a try, so she was doing just that. Hatsumi was drawn to the gazebo, her place of sanctity. She curled up on the bench and opened her book, losing the world around her.

"What are you doing here?" a loud voice in front of her said, startling her and breaking her from her reverie.

"What—who? Oh—oh sorry, I didn't—I didn't mean—," Hatsumi started, in defense of herself.

"Did you know you're trespassing on private property and that I can have you arrested?" the voice continued.

"I'm sorry, yes, I did know that, but I also thought that this place had been abandoned," she answered. The person speaking came towards her, and into the gazebo, revealing himself.

'Oh my God, it's Asuza,' she thought, startled now beyond belief. The semi-sleep state of reading had now completely worn off.

"Hey, don't I know you?" Asuza said. "You're Hatsumi, right? Your family lives in the apartment on the corner of 5th Street and 1st Ave.? We went to elementary school together?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you remember all that, I always thought you didn't know anything about me."

"When I was younger I had a huge crush on you, but I didn't think you knew I existed. Ah, to be that age again," he said, reminiscing.

"I, I guess that I always thought you were too popular to even—well, I didn't even know you moved in here, when did that happen?" Hatsumi said, changing the subject.

"I moved in about a year ago, after my modeling career really took off, we had enough money to live here. It's a really nice property, but I really never get a chance to see it, I'm hardly ever at home."

"Oh. Well you're missing a lot, it's a beautiful garden, I haven't seen the house, but this gazebo is where I come to when I need to cool off."

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling awkward. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Sure, it's your gazebo, after all," she said with a laugh, she slid over to make room.

Asuza sat down next to her and propped his feet up on the bench across from him. "So, umm, if you don't mind my asking, how long have you been coming here? I mean, you're still trespassing, and I know that's not something you would really do... How did you find this place?" he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"I—um—well—whenever my parents would start fighting and I couldn't take it anymore, I would leave the house and walk around at night," Hatsumi said in explanation.

"You mean to tell me you would walk around by yourself? Out in the streets of New York? You're a little crazier than I originally thought."

"No, no, it's not like that. I would walk around, but then I found this place. It became something like my 'safe haven' of sorts. I felt like as long as I was here, I was safe. I guess I really can't be coming here anymore, though, if someone bought the property," Hatsumi said sadly.

"Well, like I said, I don't really come here much. You can still come, and this way it won't be trespassing. I don't mind," Asuza said, streching out his long arms and legs like a cat, and then standing.

"You mean I can stay here?" Hatsumi jumped up, thrilled. "You really don't mind?"

"Yes," he said, laughing, "you can stay here for as long as you like. Tell you what, if things get really bad, and if it gets cold outside, just come around front, I'll set you up in one of the guest rooms, ok?"

"Thank you, I can't tell you how much this means, I just didn't—well when I heard you, I thought you were—I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Thank you!" She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight. Asuza was surprised at first, but then his arms came around her also.

"I never asked," he said, "but aren't you supposed to be in school right now? It's the middle of 7th period."

Hatsumi dropped her arms, but was still pinned against him by his. "Yeah, I suppose I should go, I already skipped out on my 6th period, no need to miss 7th, too."

She tilted her head back, looking into his eyes. 'Haven't I always dreamed of being this close to him, to be able to gaze into his eyes?' Hatsumi sighed. "Wait a minute," she said. "Aren't you supposed to be in school too?"

"Okay," he said with a smile, "you caught me, but I was supposed to be at a shoot today, it got canceled and I decided to just stay at home. You aren't going to tattle on me, are you?" He had a twinkle in his eye.

"No, I suppose not," Hatsumi said, feeling more at ease. 'Wow, can I actually get used to being around someone as popular and cool as Asuza Odagiri?' she thought to herself. 'He seems like such a softy when he's not surrounded by his personal fan club. I wonder if he actually did like me when I was little.'

"Well, I suppose you'll want a ride to school for doing me this favor," Asuza said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Huh? What favor?"

"You're not going to tell them I'm here, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, that, sorry. My lips are sealed."

Asuza smiled at her, perusing her face with his eyes. He still hadn't let go of her, and she wasn't squirming yet, so she must not mind. 'I think I'm in need of a new play-thing,' he thought to himself.

"Well, you should—um—could you possibly let go of me?" Hatsumi said.

Asuza cleared his throat, "There, sorry, I—uh—forgot."

Hatsumi grabbed her book and walked out of the gazebo, waiting for him to follow.

"My car's around front, follow me."

Hatsumi followed as Asuza led the way. She still couldn't believe this strange twist of fate. 'Just when I think things have hit rock bottom, my life turns for the better.'

Asuza had a strange grin on his face, walking ahead of Hatsumi. 'Yes, she'll do just fine, I think. She's just perfect.'


	7. Rift

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing characters.

Unexpected Love Chapter 7- Rift

Ryoki saw a strange car pull up to the front doors, watched a boy he didn't know walk around to the passenger side door and let a beaming Hatsumi out. He witnessed the looks that passed between them, recognized the attraction and to his surprise, became jealous. 'What am I even thinking of? I don't have any real feelings for her. But why then am I so jealous about seeing her with another guy?' He looked back, observing the scene playing out in front of him. The boy pulled Hatsumi into an embrace and held her there for at least a minute, murmuring into her ear. Ryoki wondered what he was saying. A moment later they parted. Hatsumi watched the boy climb back into his car and drive away with a dazed look. She finally turned on her heels and headed for the entrance to the school.

When Hatsumi came near he stepped out in front of her. "Who was that and why weren't you in class today, slave?"

Hatsumi stopped dead and visibly cringed, this made Ryoki even more upset than he already was. 'Is this how I make her react to me? Am I so bad that I make her cringe?' he questioned himself silently, growing angrier by the second and almost shaking from the force of it.

"For your information, that was Asuza Odagiri, a model. What do you want with me, anyway?" she asked in an agitated voice. Hatsumi had her fists clenched into balls at her sides.

That put Ryoki over the edge. "Your impertinence astounds me, slave, that you would dare to ask such a question of me. Need you Master a reason to request your company? Need I remind you of the consequences should you wish to cease being my slave?" he asked, quaking with anger. He had the urge to slap her, but didn't. 'Who does she think she is to be using such a tone with me?' he thought, reinforcing his fury.

Hatsumi was shaking also, not from anger, but from fear. 'Ryoki terrifies me,' she realized, trying to hold back tears but not quite succeeding. One slipped down her cheek as she dared to look him in the eye. She pled with him silently, not trusting her voice.

As Ryoki stared into Hatsumi's big eyes he lost all sense of anger. He suddenly felt overwhelming compassion for her and stepped forward to fold her into an embrace, at first startling her but then she relaxed.

With Hatsumi melting into his arms, time seemed to freeze for all eternity. All that existed in that extended moment was he and his arms wrapped tight around her frail body, Hatsumi crying on his shoulder. It seemed so natural to hold her, comfort her, care for her. So natural, eve, that he didn't even recognize the instant change of emotions. All anger was suddenly gone, replaced by something he didn't even want to begin to fathom. Something completely foreign to him, until now. He was so lost in his thoughts, in fact, that he didn't even realize Hatsumi had ceased trying and now stood frozen in fear, his arms still crushing her to his chest.

Ryoki le go of her instantly and a soon as he did, Hatsumi stepped back and wrapped her arms around her body, trying to fight off the lingering effects of the embrace. Ryoki could see she wanted to run away from him. 'She wouldn't dare,' he thought with a smirk.

"Oh go ahead, laugh at me, I'm just your slave, I have no feelings," she finally said, beginning to cry again.

"Don't—don't do that," he stuttered, not wanting to see the emotional pain on her face. Pain that he had caused.

"Don't do what? Cry? Does that make you uncomfortable? Well at least you're getting back some of your own medicine. God I hate my life." Hatsumi collapsed into a pile on the sidewalk sobbing and wiping her eyes and nose with the edge of her blouse, for lack of something better.

Ryoki started toward her but she put her hand up, halting him. "Don't. Don't even think about touching me. How can you think that you trying to comfort me will make anything better? It's you who I hate, you who have ruined my first year as an upper-classman," she said, gaining momentum and surprising herself with the ferocity of it. Hatsumi paused for a moment and took strange satisfaction in the fact that Ryoki was now standing slack-jawed with amazement. She continued, taking the opportunity to express her true opinion. "Do you know how many responsibilities to friends and family I've had to sacrifice because, on a whim, you decide you want my company? 'Carry my books, slave; make me lunch, slave; walk me to school, slave'," she mocked. "I'm sick of it. Do you have any idea how to treat another human being? With dignity and respect? Do you even have any friends? I bet you don't, you wouldn't even know where to start."

Hatsumi, just realizing all that she had said, shut her mouth, making her teeth click together. She couldn't believe she had said all she had. 'Oh no, what have I done? This could make him angry enough to get me in trouble regardless of the fact that I've done everything he's told me to do. This is very bad.'

Ryoki was astounded. He had never been spoken to in such a manor in the entirety of his life. Not even his mother had dared to use such a tone. He was torn between irritation and fascination. That such a girl would have the guts to stand up to him amazed him, and also scared him. 'She could be my undoing,' he thought as he watched her arrange her hair and clothes, trying to erase the markings of her sudden mood swing.

Hatsumi looked up at him expectantly, knowing he was yet undecided as to his course of action. She was still astounded by her outburst but was proud of herself for just letting it all out.

Ryoki took one step towards Hatsumi and then turned-heel and strode back to the school, leaving her sitting in the middle of the brick walk.

Hatsumi stared after him as he disappeared through the glass doors and down the hallway.

* * *

Akane uncurled herself from her hiding spot behind the bushes. She had heard the whole exchange. She also knew that, if she was going to try to get Ryoki, now was the time to do it. She followed him through the doors, and down the hall, through the art gallery and into a discrete corner of the school. She stopped as he whirled around and confronted her.

"What do you want?" he asked angrily. "I'm really not in the mood to be followed, if there's something I can help you with, spit it out, but otherwise leave me the hell alone!"

Undaunted, Akane walked right up to him and put her hand on his waist. "It's not so much about what you can do for me, it's about what I can do for you," she said, placing her other hand on his shoulder.

"And just what do you think you have that's so special? I don't take time out of my day for freshmen. Don't you have a play date with your friends or something right now?" Ryoki said, twisting out of her grasp. "Plus, I have someone else in mind. You're too young to understand."

He spun away from her and continued down the hall, ignoring her completely. Akane was left standing there, looking like an idiot for the entire world to see. 'Oh my god, I got rejected. That's never happened to me, what do I do?' She watched him walk down the hallway, feeling very hurt. Finally, after he disappeared around a corner she turned and walked back to where she had last seen her sister. 'I need to apologize to her; I should never have said all those mean things to her. Ryoki's a jerk, I don't know what I ever saw in him,' she thought, beginning her search for her sister.

Hatsumi was not in the lobby, she was not in the courtyard. She was not in the guidance center, nor the main office, nor even the main part of the library. She had closeted herself in a little known hiding spot behind one of the awards displays, and was sitting there currently, crying.

Akane slid next to her and startled Hatsumi by putting her arms around her shoulders. "Oh Akane," Hatsumi said. "How did things get so bad? I tried to keep things under control but I couldn't. I—."

"Shh. Don't talk, it's okay, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, not the other way around. Ryoki's a big jerk, I saw what he did to you, I'm so sorry."

"You saw that?" Hatsumi asked.

"Only part of it," she assured. "All I saw was you sitting there crying and Ryoki standing over you, then he stalked off. I saw how upset you were and he did nothing."

Hatsumi sighed, feeling wretched and completely unable to handle her own life. "So you've finally given up on him, huh?" she said ironically. "You never really were his type. I have a feeling he would like someone who has enough courage to get up in his face and argue along with him."

"Hatsumi," Akane said fondly, "you always know what to say to cheer me up."

They hugged each other, realizing that once again the bond between them was too strong to break over silly reasons. Akane was happy she had her sister back, 'I depend on her way too much to have a rift between us.'

"Come on," Hatsumi said, pulling her sister up, "we should get back to class. 8th period is just about to start and I wouldn't want you to be late."

"Okay, if I have to...you know, it's kind of comfy back here, I think I might just take a nap..." Akane said, jokingly.

"Don't even think about it!" Hatsumi teased back.

Akane pouted. "You're no fun."

"I'll see you later," Hatsumi said, grabbing her backpack and heading off.

* * *

Ryoki sat in the library by a computer. He was pretending to do research but he hadn't moved his mouse for 5 minutes. He looked over as a familiar face sat down at the computer next to his. "Hey, you're Hatsumi's friend, right? What's your name again?"

"Umm, it's Subaru Yagi," he said, uneasily.

"Do me a favor? Tell me everything you know about her."

"Where do you want me to start? I mean, does Hatsumi know about your curiosity? If you really want to know, why don't you ask her?"

"I just want to hear it from someone else. Would you mind?"

"Well, I have some stuff to do right now, but maybe later?"

"After school? Do you have plans?"

"That's fine. Where do you want to meet?"

"How about Starbucks? I'll see you later, then."

"Bye."

Ryoki stood up and walked out of the library. Subaru stared after him, puzzled. 'I wonder what he has in mind. I hope its okay for Hatsumi. At least with me as information control I might be able to find out just what he's up to.'

Author's Note These last couple of chapters have been kind-of hard to pump out. I don't have much time lately, since I'm going to be graduating in the next few weeks. Stick with me though, I'm not going to stop writing, it might just take a while to post it. Once my life slows down, though, I should have no problems. Oh, anyone have any ideas about what the hell I should do about Asuza? I still haven't figured out what yet.


	8. The Unthinkable

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing the characters…

Chapter 8– The Unthinkable

Hatsumi couldn't sleep that night. Something just didn't sit well with her at all. It was an uneasiness that made her just queasy enough to prevent rest of any kind, so she was forced to pace around her room. Her thoughts wandered to her sister's opinion of the clothing she wore. Hatsumi didn't think it was all that bad.

She strode over to her closet and opened the door, pulling out outfit after outfit, realizing finally that maybe that was why people failed to notice her. She was invisible in these out of date clothes. 'But I love all of them, each one has a memory attached to it. How can I just give them all up when I don't even want to be considered "hip". Just because Akane has tons of friends and about 50 boyfriends at a time doesn't mean that it's what I want from life. By wearing these clothes, I'm letting everyone know that I'm my own person and I don't live to anyone else's standards but my own.'

She dropped the sweater set she was holding and walked to the window, watching as the rain began to fall outside. A lot of people didn't like the rain, but Hatsumi felt free in it. She glanced back at the clothing strewn around her room and walked back over to put it all back in her closet. As she was finishing, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and went over to study her features.

Stripping off her pajamas, she stood naked in front of the full length mirror, looking for some sort of physical flaw with the scrutiny of a woman's eye. Her breasts were about average for an Asian woman of her size and stature. Her build was thin, but curves were evident in her form. She didn't think that she was physically _un_attractive, but her features were probably hidden under the bulky clothing she preferred. 'Out of sight, out of mind,' she always thought. There were so many teens in her school who had gotten raped, or who had babies, and she just didn't want that out of life. If she hid behind her clothing and anonymity then she would never be bothered. It had worked thus far, but she couldn't help feel a little jealous of those girls who flaunted what they had. She had always wanted to, but, then again, there was that nagging fear that if she did, she would regret it. 'Even so, what's a little skin going to hurt? I'll ask Akane to go shopping with me for some new clothes. She'll probably agree. Making me over has been a small project of hers for some time now.'

With that decided, she strode back to the window and watched the rain which was falling in huge droplets. She longed to feel the rain on her bare skin, to be bold enough to just stand outside and let it wash away her old self. 'Why not,' she thought devilishly to herself, 'it's 2 am and there's no one else around the alley here. Why not just take the chance and do something out of the ordinary for once? Why not do something outrageous?'

She bent down and slowly opened the window to the fire escape. The rain started coming in the room because of the wind so she moved all of her possessions off of the sill and climbed out into the cold fall air and the even colder rain drops. Hatsumi stood there for a moment and raised her arms to the dark heavens. She lost herself in the cool feel of the night and the fall of the rain against her naked skin. Suddenly, however, she was snatched from her reverie by a chilling voice down below her.

"Hello, Slave," it said

* * *

Subaru was uneasy that morning, he had been waiting outside for Hatsumi to arrive to school but hadn't yet seen her, and it was almost time for class. 'This isn't like her,' he thought to himself. 'God, I hope she's okay.' He scanned the crowds again, hoping to catch a glimpse of her among the students milling around outside of the school, but couldn't seem to spot her. 

'I wonder why she's not here, is she sick? No, she would have called me this morning to tell me something was wrong…" his thoughts again wandered until they suddenly rested on the conversation he had with Ryoki the afternoon before. It seemed so innocent to Subaru at the time, but what if Ryoki had malicious intent? "If that bastard does anything to her, I swear that I'll kill him," he swore to himself out loud.

"What was that?" asked Akane, stepping out from behind him and startling him beyond the capacity to speak. "What are you talking about?"

Still sputtering, he said, "D-d-d-don't _do_ that, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Jeez, Subaru, you're such a baby. You realize that you would have seen me if you hadn't been in your own little La-La-Land, right?" She poked him in the arm a couple times until he flinched.

"Stop it, would you? I'm trying to keep an eye out for your sister, I haven't seen her yet, and you're just being a distraction. Go hurry off to kindergarten, or whatever grade it is you're in."

Akane pouted. "I'll have you know that I'm in eighth grade, not _kindergarten._ And for your information, Hatsumi wasn't at home this morning. Mom was looking all over for her, but you know how she is sometimes, she'll disappear for a while and then turn up. I bet Shinogu knows where she is, he always does." She turned around and stalked off, leaving Subaru at the front doors, contemplating her words.

Suddenly the bell for first period rang, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to reality. 'Crap,' he thought, 'I'm late again!'

* * *

"Move out of my way, stupid freshman!" Ryoki exclaimed while pushing his way through the clustered students in the hallway. He was in a particularly bad mood, since, after coming home late last night soaked head to toe, his mother felt the need to punish him. She still wasn't comfortable with him wandering around outside in the city without someone with him, but after dark? Forget about it. She had grounded him. He still couldn't believe it. 'Who grounds a 16-year-old, anyway? I'm too old for this stuff,' he thought.

"Move, asshole, you're in my way." He pushed a fairly large boy out of his way. Lucky for him, the boy decided to push him back, responding in a colorful rainbow of foul language. Ryoki took it as a chance to vent his accumulated anger and slammed him into a locker. Just as the boy was about to punch back, one of the girls with him stopped his fist, mid flight.

"Don't touch him, he's the principal's son. Do you want to get into a shit load of trouble if he goes crying to his mommy? Just leave him alone."

"This prick has got it coming, I'm just helping by putting him in his place," the kid responded, still not letting up his grip on Ryoki.

"I'm telling you, this is trouble, don't do it," she whined.

"Whatever," he said, dropping Ryoki, "he's not worth my time, let's go."

Ryoki sagged against the locker he had been pressed against and straightened his glasses and hair, glancing around him fretfully. Everyone seemed to be avoiding his gaze. He retrieved his backpack, which had been lost sometime in the fray, and upon inspecting the contents, was pleased to see that nothing had been taken. 'I guess being the principal's son has certain perks…but that's about _all_ there is to the job.'

Checking his watch, he realized that he had two minutes to be sitting in his first period French class. Ryoki still didn't understand why, as a foreign exchange student, he was required to take a foreign language. 'Probably at my mother's insistence,' he mused to himself, 'She's always trying me to become more worldly, whatever that means.'

Ryoki took off for class and then realized it was the only class he had with Hatsumi. He would get to see her after her long night, this would be fun.

* * *

Hatsumi awoke and stretched her aching limbs, wondering why she was so sore. She was sleeping on something uncomfortably hard, and it was rather chilly. Her eyes suddenly flew open with the realization of what had happened the night before, with Ryoki. She looked around herself and recognized the gazebo and then realized that her mother was probably panicking about where she was at the moment. Hatsumi didn't think she had ever been so irresponsible as to stay out all night without telling her mother where she had gone. This was a whole new sort of trouble for her, and she had a feeling she was really going to get in trouble this time.

Her thoughts turned to Azusa, and how helpful he'd been last night. She couldn't believe that he wasn't mad at her last night for waking him up at about 3:00 in the morning. He had welcomed her into his house with open arms, and soothed her tears, inviting her to stay in the guest room, but she had refused. 'I always feel safer out here in the gazebo, anyway,' she thought to herself. She smiled again at how caring Azusa had been the night before.

'And then there's Ryoki,' she thought to herself, 'I can't believe what a sick bastard he is.' He was going to make her rue the day she ever picked up those stupid papers with the answers to that economics class. It wasn't even in her curriculum for the year, so what she would have been doing with them in the first place, she had no idea, but she still couldn't get Ryoki to believe her. Hatsumi didn't really think it mattered anymore to him, though, so she had stopped trying.

Last night… Last night had been… Last night had been confusing, and very, very scary, she decided at last. Ryoki had seen her when she went outside naked, which she shouldn't have been doing anyway, but the tone in his voice when he had spoken to her had chilled her to the bone. Those words…why did she always shudder when she heard those words?

Hatsumi's stomach growled, reminding her of the time. 'I should really get back to the apartment. My mom's going to kill me as it is, but if I don't come back now and tell her what happened, I'm as good as gone.' She got up off of the bench she had been occupying just as Azusa came out with a plate full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a pitcher of milk in one hand, and two glasses in the other.

"I thought you might be getting hungry out here, so I brought some sustenance for you. I also thought that you wouldn't mind me eating out here with you, but if you would rather, we can go inside," Azusa said, offering her a sandwich.

"You didn't have to do this, Azusa, letting me stay here is more than I could ever hope for; that and you not getting mad at me when I came here last night soaking wet and crying like a baby," she stated. Hatsumi didn't like being dependent on people.

"Well, I tried to make you stay in the house, but you _insisted_ that you sleep out here in your gazebo. I would have been more than happy to make up a bed for you and have you stay in one of the guest bedrooms. I wasn't kidding when I said that you staying here would be perfectly fine. If it's a haven that you want, then it's a haven you shall have. The house is too empty most of the time, anyway, you staying there would cheer things up some."

Hatsumi was so flattered by his words she could only smile into his perfect face. She couldn't believe how nice he was being to her. It's not like New Yorkers to be nice to others, so why is he doing this for me? 'Through all of this stuff that's happening in my life, I must say that it's nice to know that I have somewhere to go when things get too unbearable. I had almost believed I had lost this place when I found out it had been sold.'

She took a sandwich from his outstretched hand, tears coming to her eyes, and then she hugged him. 'I really think that things will work out this time, with him, I feel like anything and everything is possible, I feel so free…I can't imagine a world without him in it, I just pray that he feels the same way…'

Hatsumi knew of only one way of making sure. She dropped her sandwich onto the floor, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. Sandwiches and milk flew everywhere, Azusa being so startled that he dropped everything. His hands now free, he returned the hug and kiss as ardently as she was giving it. For a moment, it was truly rapture.

**Author's Note-** For those of you who have been diligently checking my story to see if there has been any update on it, I apologize profusely. I have not really been able to write, and the several times that I attempted to do so, the chapter was lost and I had to begin again. Now that I have resumed (hopefully from where I started) I hope that you will again resume reviewing me and giving me ideas as to what the hell I'm going to do with this plot line, since it is starting to deviate drastically from the original (for those of you who actually read Hot Gimmick). Any and all input is appreciated and I will try my best to respond to your comments. Happy reading!


	9. More Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hot Gimmick, I'm just borrowing the characters…

Chapter 9– More Trouble

Hatsumi hurried to school. She realized that, while it was late and she didn't have her books, she would still be able to make about half of her classes. She didn't want to miss any more than she already had. 'Plus,' she thought to herself, 'going to school will give me time to think about what I'm going to tell my mother about why I wasn't in my room this morning, or why I left in the middle of the night.'

It was lunch time for her when she got there finally, so she grabbed a school lunch, macaroni and cheese, and headed over to see Subaru. She intended to pretend like nothing strange had happened at all, but she realized, after glancing at his face, that it wasn't going to happen.

Subaru wore a mask of anguish. Since Hatsumi hadn't been in her first classes of the day and no one had heard anything from her, not even her sister, he was out of his mind with worry for her. It wasn't that he cared for her in any way but as a friend, but he felt personally responsible for her at times when she wasn't completely "with it". Those days had seemed more and more numerous as this school year went by, and he was scared that maybe she wasn't going to do all of the things she wanted to do, that maybe the goals she had set for herself were too high, too onerous to achieve. Seeing her trot over to him at lunch, however, all cheery, pretending that nothing happened, just made him more mad at her for making him worry yet again.

"Hello, Subaru," she said to him happily. "How have you been today?"

Subaru fixed her with a blank stare and said coolly, "I've been worried sick about you, actually. Why is it that your own sister didn't know where you were today?"

"I needed some time to myself, actually, something very unnerving happened and I needed to think about what had happened. As it turns out, I'm not done thinking yet, so I'll let you know when I've figured everything out."

'Oh my God,' he thought, 'could something I had said to Ryoki provoked him to do something to Hatsumi? I'll call her bluff and see if I can get anything out of her.' He turned to her. "Does any of this, by any chance, have to do with a certain person named Ryoki?"

"How did you–?" she asked startled.

"He seemed suspicious to me, he came to me to ask questions about you, and some of the things he wanted to know were pretty strange. He asked me about guys in your life and other sexual things, aka thinks I have no idea about, and other things. I just got a bad vibe from the entire incident and I wanted to check with you to make sure nothing had happened to you. _Did_ anything happen to you last night that you're not telling me about?"

"I-I can't, not right now," she said, grabbing up her belongings and her lunch. "Please understand that I would tell you, I'm just not ready to recount it yet. _Please_ don't tell anyone about this, I'll tell everyone once I know everything is going to be okay. I just– I just can't do this right now." Tears were falling down her face as she fled the school once again, heedless of where she went, only that she could leave this place of torture.

* * *

Subaru didn't know what to think. It seemed that every single time he tried to do something right with a girl, she ended up running off and crying hysterically. 'I must just have the worst luck in the world, that's all,' he thought to himself. 'I really hope she's okay, though, and that I didn't make her too upset. I just don't know what's going on with Hatsumi lately, she's been in a whole other world, and hanging out with people she wouldn't be caught dead with, usually.'

As far as women were concerned, his life had been rather empty. Hatsumi was the only one that he was ever really friends with, and they had been friends for years. While Subaru would have loved to go out with her, after several years of never really showing interest in him, he had come to the conclusion that he and Hatsumi would never be together, and he moved on. 'I guess girls just aren't interested in the same things I am. It seems that hardly anyone is really into anime or video games,' he sighed to himself and glanced at his watch. He still had a couple more minutes before lunch was over. 'Great! I still have time to buy the new Gundam manga that came out today! If I go over now and get it, I should have enough time left to sneak into the back of my Spanish class without everyone noticing.'

After stashing his backpack in his locker and making sure that it shut (the lock was broken) he trotted down the stairs and out into the sunlight, stopping to nod to Akane as he passed.

"Where are you going? Isn't lunch almost over?" she asked him.

Hearing Akane's question, he turned. "The new Gundam manga is out today and I want to go out and get it before it's sold out and I have to wait another three weeks for them to reorder at the bookstore. You know how they are there, it'll take them forever to realize that they don't have any more on the shelf."

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you still read that stuff, at least if you're going to be reading manga, it should be something like _Mars_ or _Paradise Kiss_. At least those have a little bit of romance in them. Speaking of which, I should come with you, I still have to read the last two of Mars, even though they've been out forever."

"You can come if you really want, but we're probably going to be late coming back to school, and since you're a freshman, you aren't allowed off campus during the day. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble."

"Aww, that's so sweet, you're worried about me!" she preened. "Well, don't worry, I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I've never had any problems before, even when I _did_ sneak off campus."

"Okay, okay!" He shrugged. "I get your point. You're more than welcome to accompany me. Or would you rather I walk on the other side of the street so you aren't seen with a loser like me? I wouldn't want to damage your reputation as a part of the popular crowd."

"Oh, don't be silly, I'm way to popular to have one little outing with you damage my _whole_ image," she giggled, grabbing a hold of his arm and forcing him to move over on the sidewalk. "Plus," she continued, "I rather enjoy your company."

"Y-y-you what?" he stuttered in response.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I've only known you for practically _forever_ right? I should _hope_ that I'd be used to you by now."

"Oh, okay," he said, still a little worried. 'Could it be that she actually might like me?' He shook his head. 'It's not possible,' he decided.

* * *

Ryoki had been getting out of his car in front of the school when he spotted Hatsumi running out of the school, visibly upset. 'What is that idiot doing now? Why is it that she always makes _me_ chase after her?'

Tossing his book bag back into his car, he got back in and peeled out of the parking lot. Taking the general direction that Hatsumi had taken, he went after her.

* * *

Azusa was in a cafe eating lunch with friends when he saw Hatsumi making a mad run down the sidewalk. She looked upset, so he made excuses to his friends and left, running after her. He finally spotted her at a street corner where she had stopped to wait for the traffic light to change.

Hatsumi turned after he called out her name, tears streaming down her cheeks and hair in a wild disarray. "Just go away! I can't take anymore from people!" she sobbed.

Catching up to her, and panting from the effort, he said, "You know, for girls, you have got the worst record I have ever imagined." He glanced at her with a friendly smirk. "Why is it that in the past 12 hours, I have seen you crying hysterically not only once, but twice?" He stood, still panting a little, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along with him.

"And just _where_ are we going?" she asked him.

"I know some place where we can go so that you can loosen up a little bit. You need some wind down time before you get yourself into trouble again."

Hatsumi looked at Azusa questioningly.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, you'll have a good time, and you'll get to meet some of my pals in the industry."

"I don't know about this, Azusa, I mean, I should really be home right now. My mom's probably worried sick about me, since I didn't come home last night after going to your place."

"Here, use my cell phone. Call her and tell her that you're going to be okay and that you're with a friend. You'll be home later on, and then you'll explain everything."

"Okay, I guess that will work. I'll call from wherever it is that you're taking me."

"Let's go then, we wouldn't want to be late."

* * *

Ryoki saw the two of them just as they rounded a corner, and the jealousy that he had been feeling welled up inside of him. He didn't like that she was hanging out with someone else, and another boy at that, but even more than that, he had a bad feeling about this guy. Something just wasn't right. He decided to follow them. He followed them all the way to a local bar, where they disappeared inside.

**Author's Note**- Okay, this next chapter is the make it or break it chapter, stick around, I'm going to make it good, I promise!


End file.
